


Bundle of Joy

by Doorhandletable



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Baby Sarada, Blank Period, F/M, Fluff, New Parents, Traveling, Travels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:34:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24529972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doorhandletable/pseuds/Doorhandletable
Summary: Sleep-deprived new parents Sasuke and Sakura have a late-night disagreement.Written for SS Week on Twitter.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke
Comments: 9
Kudos: 142





	Bundle of Joy

**Author's Note:**

> Written for SS Week on Twitter. Combined day 3(kiss) and day 4(taking care of the baby) entries.

Around her third week of life, Sarada developed something Sakura called ‘colic’, which she said was a condition where babies cry for no reason. She wasn’t sick, Sakura had assured Sasuke. She was just going through a phase.

It was worst in the early hours of the morning. It seemed almost improbable that such a tiny baby could scream so loudly for so long. Sasuke couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride despite the trouble she was putting them through. Those lungs would come in handy when she learned fire style. A fine set of Uchiha lungs.

Sarada would spend the next day sleeping peacefully in her sling, looking so cute that Sasuke and Sakura had no choice but to forgive her, even though they could barely stay awake themselves.

When they stayed in inns, they often got dirty looks from the owners and other guests after Sarada had spent the night screaming her head off. Camping out in the middle of the woods with a newborn was inconvenient, but at least they weren’t disturbing anyone except the woodland rabbits and forest mice, who could at least burrow underground to get away from the commotion.

Sasuke sat on a log by the dying fire, watching as Sakura paced around the clearing they were camping in, desperately trying to comfort a wailing Sarada. The diapers they had washed were hanging on a clothesline strung between two trees. It was a warm night, but they still weren’t going to be dry for another few hours. They were wrapping her in their spare clothes in the meantime.

“Come on, Sara-chan,” Sakura said soothingly. “It’s bedtime. You must be tired by now.”

Sasuke stood up and walked over to Sakura.

“Perhaps you should try feeding her again,” he offered, a perfectly reasonable suggestion in his opinion.

Sakura looked back at him, an annoyed look on her face.

“Don’t you think I’ve tried that already?” she snapped. “She’s not latching on tonight. She’s too upset to do anything except cry.”

“I was only-“ Sasuke started but Sakura interrupted him.

“You never help me with her,” she said in an accusatory tone. “You just sit there watching me. You were responsible for making her too, y’know. Why don’t you look after her if you think you know better than me?”

She placed the still-screaming Sarada in Sasuke’s arm, turned on her heel with a huff, and stomped off, disappearing into the night.

Sasuke could only stare after her. He and Sakura had had disagreements and quarrels in the past, but she had never had an outburst like this. He glanced down at Sarada, whose face was as red as the tomatoes they’d had for dinner. He tried gently bouncing her like he’d seen Sakura do before, but this just made her scream even louder.

He looked back over in the direction Sakura had stalked off in. Should he go after her? Or should he wait for her to cool off and come back when she was ready? He really hadn’t meant to upset her. He could hardly blame her for being upset. They both had had very little sleep in the past few weeks. He decided to stay where he was. Sakura probably just needed to get away for a few minutes.

Sasuke walked back to the log where he had been sitting and settled back down on it. In truth, the reason why he hadn’t done as much as he should have was because Sakura had appeared to have everything under control. Ordinarily, she always had an extra supply of clean diapers, managed to get Sarada fed every three hours even when she was being fussy, and tried to keep her cool even when it was three in the morning and Sarada was screaming louder than Naruto when he was forced to eat a salad. This night had been an outlier.

The weeks and weeks of sleepless nights must have taken a toll on Sakura. And looking after a baby on the road brought on its own set of challenges.

To Sasuke’s surprise, Sarada’s screams suddenly stopped. He looked down at her. She was still whimpering, but she had stopped wailing at least. As he stared down at her, wondering what he had done to make her stop crying, he heard footsteps. He looked up and saw Sakura approaching him, an unreadable expression on her face.

“Give her to me,” she ordered, a little standoffishly. “I’m going to try to feed her again.”

He watched Sakura unbutton her shirt and offer her breast to Sarada, who latched on and started feeding. Sasuke watched the scene in silence. When Sarada finally pulled away, Sakura pulled a piece of cloth from her pocket and put both it and Sarada over her shoulder, gently patted the baby’s back until she spat up. She tossed the piece of cloth onto the ground, and cradled Sarada in her arms, who quickly drifted off to sleep.

For a few moments, Sasuke and Sakura sat together on the log, revelling in their newfound world of silence.

“Sasuke-kun, I’m sorry for flying off the handle like that,” Sakura said finally, a gentle tone in her voice. “You were only trying to help. I’ve been so stressed lately.”

“No,” Sasuke said. “I’m sorry. I haven’t been helping enough with the baby.”

“I haven’t had a full night’s sleep since she was born,” Sakura said, sighing. “You know I don’t regret travelling with you and I wouldn’t trade anything for the life we have, but it’s been harder than I thought it would be to take care of her. If we were back in the village, we could get my parents to babysit once in a while and I could let off some steam with Ino and my other friends. We also wouldn’t have to carry all her baby stuff and spend our nights washing her diapers in the river.”

Sasuke looked down at Sarada, who was shifting around in Sakura’s arms, still fast asleep.

“I think it’s time for the three of us to return home,” he declared.

Sakura shook her head.

“I don’t want to force you to go back,” she insisted.

“Sakura, I am only happy if you and Sarada are happy.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Sasuke said. “I’m sure.”

Sakura smiled and looked at down at Sarada, who had nestled against her chest.

“She’s so cute,” she whispered. She looked back up at Sasuke. “We made such a beautiful baby, Sasuke-kun.”

“Sakura,” Sasuke said, turning so that he could look directly at her face. “Thank you for her. For everything.”

“No,” Sakura said. “Thank you for making her with me, Sasuke-kun.”

She kissed Sarada’s forehead and then slid over to kiss Sasuke on the lips. He put his arm around her and she leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder.


End file.
